Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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Movies, DVDs, and Theater
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What MOVIES or DVDs have you watched? (PART SEVEN - 2014) (ongoing thread)
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Joy H., Group Founder
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Jun 10, 2014 04:38AM
Thanks for posting, Werner.
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No problem, Joy! (I don't watch movies very often, but when I do watch one, I try to post about it.)
Starting to read, "Moving Day," A thriller by Jonathan Stone. Can't put it down.Joy, did you ever watch, "Monument Men?" It's very good.
Monuments Men was excellent! Highly recommend that to everyone. We all know about the war, but this is a story I never knew about, true unsung heroes.
No, I haven't watched "Monuments Men".
Watch it. You won't be sorry. It is a hero story as Jackie said. Jackie I saw the Madonna in the church in Bruges but had no idea of the story behind it. Fascinating.
Nina, that's fantastic that you got to see the statue. I didn't know any of this story, it's truly a great story to tell. I can't believe it took this long to tell it.
I've added "The Monuments Men" to my Netflix DVD queue.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2177771/?...
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Monu...
If anyone likes suspense and not knowing what happens next and good writing/try Moving Day. It's good.
There's a good TV series from BBC, "Last Tango in Hallifax". It's available as streaming or DVD from Netlix.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2216156/?...
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/702810...
When I was 16 years old, I saw Lana Turner in the film "Madame X". So I picked up the video a few days ago and watched it last night.A nice trip down memory lane--a good old-fashioned tear jerker and it was as good as I remembered it.
Joy, YES! to Last Tango in Halifax. I started recording it on PBS but realized it's on Season 2 so I used Eric's Netflix to watch Season 1; it was completely addicting! I watched the whole season in a day, I kept saying "OK, this is the last one" and on and on til it was done, lol I'm caught up on the Season 2 PBS episodes and its torture waiting a week for the next on. I love love love it!
I am getting Last Tango..tomorrow. Will let you know if I like it as much as you do. Joy, how was your fourth of July? Hope fun. Tomorrow awful weather;predicting 100 degrees. So far good weather here so guess we shouldn't complain. They came and removed our crabapple tree stump this morning. Sad to say good-by to my once beautiful pink blossomed tree. Last year the bees distributed a disease from one blossom to the other and in sptie of spraying etc. it never recovered. It's bedtime so off with the computer.
"Last Tango in Paris" - didn't see it"Last Tango in Halifax" - OK
http://dvd.netflix.com/Search?v1=Last...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2216156/?...
Watched Last Tango in Halifax last night. Good acting but enjoyed the story line and writing better in the old series, "As Time Goes By."
Tango is a drama and Time is a comedy, I like both but they don't really compare well. I'm sorry to hear about your tree, Nina. Will you plant another fruit-bearing tree in it's place?
I guess you are right, Jackie, it is like comparing apples and oranges. Acting is good in both and that makes them worth watching. We hope to plant a white dogwood in the spring. We still have a lovely red maple at the end of our drive and two large lovely oak trees in front. But, we have a huge long front lawn and it does need another tree. However, now there is nothing to block the view of the prarie like vista as I gaze from my windows. There are no houses across the street from us. Our land used to be a ranch for racehorses. One of them actually won the KY derby and is buried near by. There is now a tower on the empty land across from us/red tiny lights at night fill the sky.
Ouuu, I love dogwood, such pretty flowers! Sounds like a lovely place to live.
Just finished, "My Antonia," by Willa Cather/beautiful writing but wonder if it would have been as well received in today's world of literature??? Does anyone have an opinion?
Nina, I gave My Antonia five stars (my review is here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/15317362 , though I think I linked to it once before in this group, too). You're asking (if I understand correctly?) whether it would be received as well if it had been written today. My guess is that the answer is yes and no. Ordinary avid readers today, I think, would have welcomed it as much now as the reading public in 1918 did (assuming it was published by Big Publishing and could get marketing traction); its solid merits would ensure that. (Of course, today it would be historical rather than mainstream fiction, but that would be no bar to it being popular.)The reaction of the elitist academic/"mainstream" media critical establishment, though, IMO, would be very different; Cather's work was canonized in a milieu that might as well have been another world. Her writing is accessible to ordinary readers, with no "experimental" features; she has an essentially positive approach to life and an underlying outlook of traditional morals and values, and she refrains from profanity and obscenity. Today, that would be enough to ensure that the guardians of "high-brow" literature would consign her to outer darkness. :-(
I commented on your excellent critique.
I purchased the "E-Space" Trilogy, consisting of three Doctor Who episodes---Full Circle; State of Decay and Warriors' Gate.Dated (originally aired in 1981) but fun as I had not seen the episodes for years.
Taking another stroll down memory lane, in the last few days I was the original Star Wars trilogy--A New Hope; Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.Had not watched the entire set for years and really found it enjoyable even though I knew what was going to happen. I remember thinking Harrison ford looked so young---then I recalled he is near to my age, lol.
Did anyone else watch "Somebody's Got To Do It", the new show hosted by Mike Rowe? We saw the first half of it & it was good. I saw on FB that they're doing one with a jockey at Churchill Downs today. Pretty cool.
Haven't seen the show you mentioned, Jim! (Of course, I don't get much chance to watch TV. :-( )Over the last couple of weekends, though, I did watch (for the second time) the 2000 BBC/A&E miniseries adaptation of Lorna Doone. (Here's the imdb link: www.imdb.com/title/tt0259786 .) I loved it the first time around, and had the foresight to tape it on VHS. This time, I wanted to compare it with the book, to see how close the adaptation is.
Generally speaking, I would say it's not as close as BBC and A&E productions generally are; I'd rate its fidelity to the original at about 65%. The basic plot and characterizations follow the book in their essentials, and a good many incidents, lines of dialog and other elements are recognizable. It's not surprising, and not necessarily a flaw, that time and events are telescoped and the plot simplified, to fit the time constraints of the miniseries; or that some changes are made to heighten the dramatic effect. Of course, much is omitted. There are some additions, though, that are solely invented by the scriptwriters; and some significant changes in both John's and Lorna's attitudes to certain things, that are less defensible as necessary concessions to the different art form of film.
That said, I still enjoyed this version a lot. Most of the changes are, considered strictly from an artistic standpoint rather than that of accuracy in reflecting the original, for the better rather than the worse. The only cast member I recognized was reliable British character actor Peter Vaughan (who plays Sir Ensor Doone); but the entire cast does a wonderful job, and Amelia Warner in particular is perfect as Lorna. Cinematography, period costuming and other detail, and action scenes are all very well done as well. I'd recommend it to fans of historical dramas with romance and action --just don't assume that you're watching a strictly accurate adaptation!
On some of our earlier threads, I've posted about the Hallmark Channel made-for-TV movie The Good Witch, starring a perfectly-cast Catherine Bell, and the first two sequels; Barb and I are both fans, though I've never had a chance (until last night) to watch any of the several later sequels all the way through. But while I'm not normally home on Saturday nights, I was last night, and so was able to catch the premiere of the latest one, The Good Witch's Wonder.If you're not a fan of the film series, this one probably won't convert you, and I'd recommend watching at least the earlier installments in order rather than jumping into the films with this one. It can be said that those after the first one are somewhat formulaic; but it's a good formula that's handled well. This one delivers family drama, some suspense, and themes of family, friendship, love and redemption, with characters that are old friends; and all flavored with gentle wisdom and a low-key touch of the trademark "is it or isn't it?" supernatural element.
Werner. I thoroughly enjoy the Good Witch stories/nice and pleasant in this not so pleasant world; except when the Royals win.
Glad to hear from a fellow Good Witch fan, Nina!
Barb's quite a fan of Christmas-themed movies, but in recent years it's been only rarely that we've had the opportunity to watch any of them together. But we were able to watch a new Hallmark channel Christmas movie, A Royal Christmas, last night. This has a premise somewhat similar to that of The Prince and Me, which we've discussed before on this thread --prince studying incognito in the U.S. and a typical American girl fall for each other, and find the path to matrimony complicated by the social differences-- but it's not a clone of the earlier movie; it has its own distinctive plot and character.Lacey Chabert and Stephen Hagen, who play the young couple here, are relatively new performers I'm not familiar with; but Jane Seymour, who plays the prince's mother, needs no introduction. Though not unflawed, in general this is a well-done movie of its type. Of course, we take happy endings for granted. But the movie's point is that, in life, those aren't automatic: they take human decisions to bring them about, and those decisions may not come readily to us.
Good review of the Hallmark movie I too saw and enjoyed last night. So much terrible news what a pleasure to fade into the fairyland and have a real life ending.
Jim. I already have "Unbroken," on my Kindle as my daughter and son in law raved about that book.
This is proving to be a Christmas season with more than usual (by recent standards) opportunity to watch Hallmark Christmas movies with Barb; since I didn't have to work today, we watched another new one, Christmas Under Wraps (www.imdb.com/title/tt4180032 )this afternoon. This one stars Candace Cameron Bure, who (for late 20th-century TV fans) played oldest daughter D. J. on the long-running sit-com Full House. Fans of C.H.I.P.S. will also recognize durable actor Robert Pine, who played the captain on that series.Bure's character here is a newly-fledged medical doctor, who has grand professional ambitions, but has settled for a position in a one-doctor hospital in small town Garland, Alaska (some 300 miles north of Anchorage), as a stepping stone to something more lucrative and prestigious. She's an essentially good person; but as one might expect, she'll learn some lessons about life philosophy and what's important. IMO, this was pretty well-done; the Alaskan setting is evoked nicely, and there's a subtle twist --a theme I usually rather dislike in Christmas movies, but worked in here in a way that I didn't really mind it. (I can't say more without a spoiler!) While the writers don't stress it, the film also does reflect a very real social problem: the difficulty small towns have in attracting and keeping medical service providers, whose incomes there usually won't be what they could be in a large city.
Werner, we are blessed to have daughters. Enjoy yours! Good luck to her in a new position. I had four girls and two boys. Sometimes the boys felt outnumbered. Can you believe?
Yes, Nina, with four girl siblings, I can believe that they'd feel a bit outnumbered! :-)
A few days ago I streamed "September Affair" (1950) via Amazon Prime. A wonderful romance starring Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten. The scenery in Italy was beautiful.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042947/?...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009...
"Two married people fall in love and a plane crash in which they are reported dead gives them their chance."
Today I streamed another old movie in the romance genre: "The Passionate Friends" (1949) starring Ann Todd, Trevor Howard, and Claude Rains.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041735/?...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009...
"In this romantic story based on a novel by H.G. Wells, a young woman marries an older man, only to have a lover from her past come back into her life." In HD.
Wonderful scenery. The flashbacks are well done.
Turns out I had seen this film a long time ago. I realized it as it progressed but I still enjoyed it. It was like seeing it for the first time.
I love these old movies, especially the romances!
This week Golden Globes nominees were announced. "Unbroken" was ignored.http://www.goldenglobes.com/2015_72nd...
"The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards" will be on TV live on Sunday, January 11, 2015.
Intresting post. Now I know you are really back.
LOL - I'm back but I'm taking it easy.
By serendipity, I've discovered a great film! I'm absolutely drawn in by it. It's an adaptation of the novel, Any Human Heart, by William Boyd. Here's the IMDb movie page:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631891/?...
It was a series on Masterpiece Theater.
I read the Goodreads reviews at the book's page. They are the most enthusiastic book reviews I have ever read! So I intend to get the audio version from our library just to get a taste of William Boyd's style.
It feels so good to be so drawn into a story!
Cold here/expect freezing rain. Hope it's better by Monday when we have to go help my recovering from shoulder surgery, daughter feed her horses. And walk the dogs. And drive on twisty turvy roads to get there. Wish us luck.
Good luck. That's miserable weather at the best of times. Taking care of the animals isn't one of those.
Good luck, Nina! Best wishes for your daughter's speedy recovery.
Thanks, I'll let you know the outcome They are predicting one to three inches. I am hoping for the one but the snowplows are already parked on our street.
We've had a lot of snow here in NY lately. Because it snowed so early, we weren't able to decorate our bushes with Christmas lights. The snow stayed on the bushes. So, instead, we put out a lighted Santa Claus.Good luck with the weather there, Nina.
So far only a couple of inches and hopefully the freezing rain prediction won't happen. I keep my fingers crossed. Are you having a huge group at Christmas, Joy? Overnighters etc. How about the new baby girl?
It all depends on the weather, Nina. Hope your weather won't be too bad.
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Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
Books mentioned in this topic
The Black Stallion (other topics)The Hundred-Foot Journey (other topics)
Cranford (other topics)
Any Human Heart (other topics)
My Antonia (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
William Boyd (other topics)Donna Tartt (other topics)
Donna Tartt (other topics)
Allan Knee (other topics)
Ruthanne Lum McCunn (other topics)
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